First in scoring

Chapter 470 469. 'Supermodel' Western Team

The next morning, Zhang Yang left Miami with Felton, Okafor, and Hill and flew to Phoenix, where they met up with their partners at the hotel... Oh, but Felton was not there.

Felton, who was still teasing Zhang Yang, Okafor and Hill for being "henpecked" in a nightclub the night before, now found himself to be the clown.

On February 2th, Valentine's Day, there were seven people traveling together, but he was the only one who was single.

Seeing Zhang Yang being affectionate with his girlfriend, Hill reuniting with his wife and children, and Okafor discussing literary works with his wife and children, Felton was so angry that he threw his luggage away... and followed the team to the city for the endorsement event.

Turn grief and anger into motivation and work hard to make money.

After hanging out for a while, the other three also reunited with their respective teams and started their endorsement work during the All-Star holiday.

Hill was not selected for the All-Star Game and didn't even participate in any games, but he also had endorsement activities.

After all, as a veteran All-Star voting champion, Hill has good appeal among fans, and his endorsement value is higher than that of most unpopular All-Star players.

After the 05-year endorsement contract he signed expired in 7, there was a two-year endorsement gap. At that time, no one knew whether he would suddenly retire one day. The brand side couldn't waste money, right? But after Hill played in all games last season and completed a one-year minimum salary contract extension last summer, the previous sneaker endorsement brand directly offered him a lifetime endorsement contract.

Hill also responded. In 2009, he renewed his contract with the Bobcats for a year's minimum salary in advance. He knew very well that the endorsement brand gave him such a contract because he and Zhang San were teammates.

In the evening, the league passed a transaction, which caused heated discussions among fans, and Zhang Yang also noticed it.

This deal has no impact on the NBA landscape... but it is indeed a hot topic - the Heat and the Raptors completed a deal, with Marion and O'Neal Jr. swapping teams.

Last season, the trade between these two players ruined both teams.

Before the Raptors used Ford as the core bargaining chip to trade for O'Neal Jr., the lineup built by Colangelo Jr. was performing at its best and was competing with the Magic for the fourth place in the Eastern Conference. Then it was gone.

Before the Suns traded Marion for O'Neal, they were competing with the Lakers and Hornets for first place in the Western Conference. Nash was at the top of the MVP rankings at the time... and then he was gone.

Regarding today's transaction, the media and fans are hotly discussing the two transactions last year, which can be regarded as dragging out the general managers of the Raptors and Suns to whip the corpses.

When Zhang Yang saw this deal, what he thought was that the fortune teller was trying hard to demonstrate Wade's personal abilities.

O'Neal's current trading value is not as high as Marion's. The salary difference alone is quite large. Marion's contract is expiring, with 1736 million, while O'Neal's salary is 2137 million, and he still has one year left, which will be 2302 million next season. The Heat rely solely on two high-paid players, Wade and Marion, with a total salary of only 5400 million, and they have to bear the extra salary.

But Wade needs a better inside player now.

The night before last, the inside combination of Haslem and Joel Anthony not only held Wade back, but were like two lumps of solid cement, welding Wade's legs to the floor.

With O'Neal who can shoot mid-range shots and protect the rim, Wade will have a lighter burden on both offense and defense.

Moreover, by sending Marion away, Beasley can be promoted. Although the performance of this No. 1 pick is far below expectations, it is not bad either. Whether he is kept for future use or used as a bargaining chip, he must be trained well.

...

After two days of hard work, Zhang Yang's first phase of promotional work was completed. He will have two days of rest. After the rookie game day the day after tomorrow, which is Friday, there will be one more day of work on the comprehensive competition day.

In the evening, Zhang Yang and Emma Roberts came to the restaurant recommended by Teacher Na for dinner. The two of them kept complaining that they couldn't take a break on Valentine's Day and would only have time to rest after that.

The fact that they were together was not hidden, and it was exposed when Zhang San brought the little bitch home on New Year's Eve to celebrate the New Year.

This has no impact on Zhang Yang. He is an athlete, not an idol who relies on "girlfriend fans". Having a girlfriend can also bring more exposure, and as a professional athlete, exposure is something that he will never have too much.

Emma Roberts has been affected... She has more advertising endorsements and magazine shoots, all because of Zhang Yang's popularity. The two also attended an event together today.

Complaints aside, this kind of work arrangement is actually understandable. To put it nicely, they are both "spokespersons", but to put it bluntly, they are "senior sales and live-streaming hosts". Popular holidays are exactly the time for them to do business.

The next day at noon, the two came to Nash's house as guests. They only saw each other a few times a year, so they would get together whenever they had the chance.

The last time they played a game, Zhang Yang thought it was an illusion, but when they met this time, he really felt that Nash had aged several years, and there were a lot of white hair around his ears.

It is enough to show how exhausted Nash has been in the past year. The main reason is his age. If he was a 25- or 26-year-old player like Xiao Bawang, the worst that could happen was that he would just wait for two years and run away. Can't you just avoid this weird management team if you can't afford to offend them?

But Nash, who was born in 74, turned 35 last week. Although he is still in his prime, O'Neal's contract still has one and a half years left. When it expires, Nash will be 36. God knows if he can maintain his form by then. Anyway, this championship run was ruined by the deal that traded Marion for O'Neal.

And there is something that makes Nash very upset at the moment - the All-Star Weekend was held at his home stadium, and he, as the star player, was not selected for the All-Star game.

This is also the reason why the All-Star Weekend was held at the Suns' home court, but Nash stayed at home after the last game of the mid-term. In December last year, the hook did not renew his contract after the endorsement contract expired, and his commercial value fell to the bottom in this year.

Everyone feels sorry about this, but also thinks it is normal. The Suns' lineup looks so luxurious, but their record is only ranked tenth in the Western Conference. If Nash, the tactical core, and Stoudemire, the top scorer, were selected as starters, there would be nothing to say about it. But if they are really selected as All-Star reserves, the head coaches who voted will be scolded instead. Each of the guards and forwards selected as All-Star reserves deserves to be selected better than the two of them.

As for O'Neal, even if he is not selected as a starter, he will most likely be a substitute, because the best performing centers in the Western Conference are O'Neal and Bynum, no one is better than them. After them, the third best performing center in the Western Conference is Camby of the Clippers. At his peak, Camby was not even at the All-Star level and had never been selected, let alone now.

After lunch, Emma Roberts took Nash's twin girls to take photos everywhere, while Zhang Yang was dragged by Nash to the training ground. He had not planned to practice basketball today and tomorrow as he wanted to spend more time with the little bitch, but Nash wanted to use training to relieve his anger, so since he was here, he might as well accompany her.

Both Mr. Na here and Mr. Na in the 10th timeline have given Zhang San a lot of help.

After training for a while, Zhang Yang found that he was "taking advantage" again. Nash taught him something that the "14th version of Nash" could not teach him - after hearing the whistle during the offense, he immediately turned his action into shooting and threw the ball out quickly.

This is not a technique to draw fouls, but rather a technique to use reaction speed to 'create opportunities'.

There are two situations. One is that the opponent fouled him, but it was not a shooting foul. He reacted quickly and made a shooting action immediately, which may affect the type of penalty finally given by the referee.

The other situation is when a teammate is fouled. In this case, not only must the player react quickly but also must make the shot. This may affect the referee's whistle and result in an 'alternative 2+1'.

This has to do with something that happened decades ago - at the beginning of the NBA, Lakers legend George Mikan was too powerful, and opponents used all kinds of tricks to deal with him. One of them was that whenever George Mikan was about to shoot, they would foul other Lakers players to prevent George Mikan from making a successful shot.

This move actually didn't have much effect. At most, it disrupted McCann's offensive rhythm. The ball still belonged to the Lakers, and McCann could continue to ask for the ball and play one-on-one. However, it was extremely destructive to the viewing experience of the game. At that time, the professional basketball league had just started, and the basketball market was not very good. As a result of this move, even fewer people bought tickets to watch the game.

So the authorities soon issued a regulation - the principle of offensive advantage: in principle, the defensive side will not be called for an off-ball foul when the offensive player shoots.

Based on the principle of offensive advantage, if the offensive team scores a goal and the defensive team commits a no-ball foul at the same time, the referee can choose to blow the whistle, the goal will be valid, and the offensive player who committed the no-ball foul will be penalized.

The little trick that Nash taught Zhang Yang was not original. There were players who tried to use this rule in the 1950s and 1960s, but he can be said to be the one who used it the best in history. In the past two years, a player who is close to Nash in this regard has emerged - Kevin Martin of the Rockets.

Zhang Yang tried to learn it and found that this little trick was easy to say but difficult to practice. He even had to make some adjustments in the rhythm of ball control.

But he still plans to practice hard. The opportunities to use it may be few and the referee may not give a free throw if he uses it. But if he gets a free throw, it would be like "picking it up for free".

Anyway, all he has to do is remember what Nash taught him, go back and relay it to England and Grove, and formulate a training plan based on his actual situation. He doesn't need to worry about it, he can just practice and be done with it.

Nash is known as the 'best point guard in NBA history in terms of scoring skills' because he has learned and integrated almost all the skills he has the conditions to use into his playing style. Even if he uses a skill with a low probability of being used, he tries to perfect it as much as possible.

This proves the saying - having a sword in your hand and not using it are completely different from not having one at all!
...

On the first rest day, Zhang Yang spent a day playing with Nash, who was in the lowest period of his basketball career. He knew that this would not be able to provide any substantial help to Nash, but as a human being, one should be grateful, so he just regarded it as a token of his appreciation.

In the evening, Zhang Yang and Emma Roberts went to the airport to pick up his parents and brother, DeRozan and his parents. The next day, the two families visited major attractions in Phoenix.

There was a professional tour guide planning the route, the US dollars paid were sufficient, the one-day tour schedule was tightly arranged but not so tiring that they all had a lot of fun.

After a day of shopping, the group came to the America West Arena in the evening to watch the All-Star Rookie Game and cheer for Harden and Yi Jianlian. The Rockets had four players selected for the Rookie Game, one from the rookie team, Brook Lopez, and three from the sophomore team, Little Black Bean Brooks, Yi Jianlian, and Scola.

Aaron Brooks, averaging 12.6 points, 2.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game, took on the task of organizing the offense while Lowry was still slowly leveling up;

Yi Jianlian has averaged 13.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game so far this season, and has made 1.6 three-pointers per game, with a three-point shooting percentage of 37.1%.

Scola, serving as the Rockets' third center, or substitute, averaged 11.6 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2 assists per game, making him the Rockets' rebounding leader.

The other players on the sophomore team have also made a qualitative leap compared to their rookie season. Durant, Horford, Thaddeus Young, Wilson Chandler, Al Thornton, and Joakim Noah. Wilson Chandler, the weakest of the six, averaged 6 points, 14 rebounds, and 5 assists per game.

The 07 class, which was ridiculed in its rookie year, successfully proved that they deserved the title of "draft year" in their sophomore season.

However, compared with the rookie team, the only "remarkable" player in the sophomore team is Durant.

场均20.5分3板4.2助攻的梅奥、场均15.1分4板7助攻的罗斯、场均13.8分2.8板2.6助攻的埃里克-戈登、场均14.2分3.9板4.4助攻的哈登、场均12分9.1板的乐福、场均12.6分3板3助攻的维斯布鲁克、场均11分3板5助攻的马里奥-查尔莫斯、场均13分5板的比斯利、场均11.6分8板1助攻1.8盖帽的大洛佩茨。

场均打20分钟拿到9分7板1.2盖帽的奥登、场均12分2板3助攻的DJ-奥古斯汀、场均11.6分3.3板2助攻的德罗赞，全部落选。

In terms of data and performance, the rookie team players are still inferior to the sophomore team players, but they are just rookies and have played one whole year less. Besides, except for Durant who has the strength to crush the rookie team geniuses, the strength advantage of other sophomore team players compared to the rookie team players is not very obvious.

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

When the host introduced the rookies one by one, Zhang Yang saw the performance data of this group of first and second year players and was full of expectations for the game. However, he was more looking forward to what these players would look like after they grew up. He was excited at the thought of playing against these geniuses.

Ronaldinho next to him was not in such a good mood. Today, Erha was carrying out an activity arranged by the NBA officials. He could only go to visit the attractions with Zhang San, who was the All-Star ticket king... Ronaldinho: I want to work hard!

The game was indeed intense and tense throughout, and the rookie team, who played more hard, had a slight advantage.

At the last moment of the game, Durant broke out, scoring 14 points alone and beating the rookie team 14 to 9, narrowing the 7-point disadvantage to two points. But at the critical moment, Beasley received a pass from Mayo and made a layup to score 2+1, which wiped out Durant's efforts.

In the end, the rookie team narrowly defeated the sophomore team 126-121, making Durant's 51 points, the second-highest in rookie game history, in vain!

The moment the final whistle sounded, Durant was about to collapse. The history of the sophomore team dominating the Rookie Game for 6 consecutive years was broken in his hands!
Shubao: When I was a rookie, the sophomore team exploded. When I was a sophomore, the rookie team exploded. They conspired to get me, right?

After the game, the organizer of the All-Star Game started to make some fun things happen. They invited some retired stars and All-Star Game players to vote to decide who would be the Rookie Game MVP of the rookie team.

As the namer of the Rookie Game trophy, Zhang Yang naturally received an invitation as well.

He wanted to vote for Harden, but he couldn't bring himself to write the name, so he wrote OJ Mayo.

Although Harden also made some contributions, making two three-pointers and scoring a total of 14 points and 3 assists, Mayo had 21 points and 11 assists, Bilis scored the highest rookie 25 points, and Rose's 15 points and 8 assists were not bad either. It was never Harden's turn.

When it came to counting the votes, the damn Xiao Hua actually read out the names of the voters!
Zhang San was glad that he didn't write "gay friend" well, but at the same time he felt Erha's resentful eyes... Let Erha be resentful, it's better than embarrassing himself, Zhang San.

Mayo, who scored 20+10, received the most votes and defeated Beasley and Rose to win the Rookie Game MVP.

After the votes were counted, Zhang Yang was once again invited to be the award presenter. After all, the trophy was named after him. Seeing that it was Xiao Hua who hosted the award ceremony, he really didn't want to go on stage, fearing that he would end up like the Lord of the Rings. But since he was already there, he couldn't be so disrespectful.

Fortunately, Xiao Hua did not make trouble this time. It might be that he looked down on the Rookie Game MVP award, but Zhang Yang was relieved and did not take it as a background.

However, when Zhang Yang handed the 'Zhang Yang Cup' to Mayo, the two people who looked at each other felt that the atmosphere was very awkward...

Zhang San: What a joke! You might as well rush to present the awards.

Super Jordan: I worked so hard to improve my strength, hoping to surpass Zhang San in the future, but ended up fighting so hard to win the 'Zhang San Cup' in the Rookie Game?
...

After two days of rest, Zhang Yang returned to work mode. Today he had only one job, but it lasted the whole day - a sneaker promotion event.

This is the focus of his endorsement work this All-Star Weekend. During the All-Star Carnival, he will promote the "Zhang Yang III" signature shoes.

As for parents and younger brother, the little bitch played with them.

Although Emma Roberts looks bitchy, she is actually very considerate in dealing with people and she has obviously been well educated, which surprised Zhang Yang at first. In fact, Zhang Yang's private character and work style also surprised Emma Roberts at first. These aspects played an important role in the two of them from treating each other as sleeping partners to being together.

It is Sunday, February 2th, and the real highlight of the All-Star Weekend is here - the All-Star Game.

At 7 o'clock in the evening, the pre-game performance began. The opening show immediately ignited the whole audience. Shaquille O'Neal put on a mask and performed a dance show with a group of dancers and bunny girls!

Zhang Yang saw the excited fans at the scene and sighed, "As expected of O'Neal, he really knows how to have fun!"

Okafor responded: "This is the real most popular super center, not a poor imitator."

Zhang Yang couldn't help but burst out laughing when he heard that. Sometimes Duncan Jr.'s mouth was really sharp. He didn't lower his voice at all and didn't give any face to the top draft pick next to him... No, it seemed like he was saying it on purpose for the top draft pick to hear.

But he laughed so loudly and didn't give any face at all, but he didn't care about Howard's livid face.

The relationship is already bad, and it doesn’t matter if it gets worse. If we meet in the competition, we can just deal with it!
In tonight's game, the opponents are the Shark, Stone Buddha, Wolf King, Big Sister-in-law and Silver Horn King. Beast is really useless, and even Little Duncan may not be of much use. If they want to compete with the Western Conference inside group, they still have to rely on the Little Giant and the Dragon King.

At 8 o'clock in the evening, the All-Star Game began.

In the starting matchup phase, the Eastern team had a clear advantage.

The starting lineup of the Western team is Iverson, Kobe, Garnett, Duncan, and O'Neal. The lineup structure can be said to be basically impossible to play. O'Neal even has to be pulled out to play fadeaway jump shots.

The Eastern team, Wade, Zhang Yang, James, Okafor, and Yao Ming, with James actively playing off-ball cuts, this lineup can play any combination.

But as the game progressed, the gap in strength began to emerge. In the first quarter, the Eastern team was able to hold on to the score of 31 to 36, but after halftime, they were more than 57 points behind the Western team at 79 to 20.

奥尼尔、邓肯、加内特俩俩错峰上场，奥尼尔半场5投5中拿到10分2助攻、加内特4投3中拿到8分3助攻、邓肯5投3中拿到8分1助攻……三人展现了什么叫内线最完美轮换！

In the earlier years, the three of them could not cooperate so well when playing in the All-Star Game together, but now they are all in their thirties, and their playing style has changed from pure core play to team play, so they have the conditions for cooperation. The one who connects the three of them is Brother Pao, who finally got the recognition of the big guys and entered the hall this year, with 9 assists in the first half!

While fans and commentators were marveling at how invincible the three big centers in the Western Conference were when they played with the help of Paul, Zhang Yang noticed another player who was helped by Paul - the old blacksmith.

10投7中，其中三分球3中2，加上2中2的罚球，科比半场18分。

The ones who passed the ball from the outside were Paul and Billups, and the ones who passed the ball from the inside were the three towers and Gasol. As long as Kobe ran out of position, he could catch the ball and shoot, and his accuracy was terrifying.

In the second half, Zhang Yang and Wade tried to lead the team in a counterattack...but they failed. The Western team's lineup this year is truly superb.

最终，西部队以149比131击败东部队，18投12中拿到31分的科比、10投9中加上4中2的罚球拿到20分的奥尼尔，一同举起了AMVP奖杯。

OK, raising the glass together is also a classic scene in the NBA. Last year, the two No. 3s who raised the glass together tried their best. Zhang San scored 30 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists, and Bian Bang scored 28 points, 2 rebounds and 9 assists, but they still couldn't prevent the birth of this famous scene.

Zhang Yang got nothing in this year's All-Star Weekend, and only won the All-Star vote king. He was quite regretful, but it was worth the trip to see the terrifying dominance of the combination of Pao Ge + Old Blacksmith + Shark Buddha Wolf.

This was the first time he had the thought of "defecting to the other side" during a match...

The next day, the 19th, a new week arrived, and Zhang Yang's family went together to Chicago to face the Bobcats' first opponent in the second half of the season - the little giant Bulls!

(End of this chapter)